REGENT vest, cotton, viscose, silk and lurex, decorated with - Lot 254

REGENT vest, cotton, viscose, silk and lurex, decorated with multicolored pomegranates, Medicis vases and fleurs-de-lis, celadon back and green lining. Size XL.History of the "Le Régent" Waistcoat Le Régent" vest is cut individually from brocade reproduced from a document from the first half of the 18th century. Thanks to the very special technique of brocade, colored threads and gold thread are skillfully blended into the design. As with embroidery, these threads are used to decorate the fabric, giving the composition the splendor required by the royal commissions of the time. Official suppliers to the Regency (1715-1723) and the King of Portugal, the mercers gathered around the Palais Royal in Paris produced brocades whose luxury was equalled only by the courts for which they were destined. Composed of the real fleur-de-lys (which was actually an iris), enlivened by subtly warm yet soft colors (garnet red, yellow ochre, royal blue, almond green), enhanced by delicate gold thread, the brocade of Le Régent vest is eminently royal. The background is worked in the Chinese style, with small ecru and almond-green clouds that herald the stylistic explosion of mid-eighteenth-century chinoiserie.